Leaving and Returning
by Royal Coat
Summary: Sometimes the simplest of things can have the most dramatic effects. Leaving one place always means going to another, but returning is not always to a place you are familiar with. Read and Review, if you would.


With a soft ruffle, Sonic parted the last of the leaves that covered the small opening back to Knothole. The village was a fragile thing, so many false trails had been laid, leading to dead ends, while a few, like this one, continued on into the village proper. Such was the planning (Mostly by Sally, but with help from the brain-trust) that went into keeping such an important secret safe. With that thought, he allowed himself a moment of melancholy. Knothole was like a soap bubble, beautiful to behold, but ready to vanish if too much happened to it.

The azure hedgehog sighed. Most of those that met him, or even knew him, might have thought the hero incapable of contemplative thought. His friends often needled him about it, at the least. The truth though, was that when you had honed your mind to be able to operate at super-sonic speeds, it continued to move way too fast, even after your feet stopped. One might say that it was a way of coping, begun during the war and continued thereafter, to run when his mind was troubled. It let him sort through things piece by piece, it let the devil-may-care attitude stay at the forefront. In the end, that was thing that was needed from him. If the team needed a leader, it was Sally, but when they needed a beacon of hope, they turned to Sonic. It was the way of the world.

It was such a wandering run that brought the blue blur away from home on that particular evening. It had been a rather simple day, with chores being the only thing to occupy time, but tension filled the air. No attacks had come in ages, not even the smallest murmurs of a threat. Quite paradoxically, given their adversary, that meant what should have been a peaceful time was filled with unease. So, with twilight filtering through the open branches of the Great Forest, Sonic had set out to clear his head.

The moon had moved high in the night sky when he set foot back into Knothole itself. Sonic was walking now, taking in the simplicity of the quiet night, the stillness, and the moonlight that speckled the ground with a glow, as he headed for his hut. His run had not had the desired effect, but he hoped to be able to sleep anyway.

As Sonic turned another corner, he saw the soft figure of a chipmunk highlighted under the moon. She stood, looking up into the glow in the middle of the small intersection where they had stopped, as if frozen in thought. A slight breeze fluttered the hem of her vest, as the girl let out a soft sigh that carried into the wind. She was always so burdened, but so able to stand the pressure. To see the little things that made it all worth fighting for. Given where they were, in fact, she had probably just tucked Tails into bed. A mobian that could stand up to any task, small or great. That was the reason Sonic cared for Sally.

He almost didn't want to step forward, since such quiet moments, he knew, were rare for her. Even so, he wanted to speak to Sally, her caring and intelligence always had a way of stilling his thoughts.

"Hey." The azure hedgehog spoke as he stepped into the moonlight.

Sally started, turning quickly to look at him. Her eyes were analyzing, her movement graceful, as always. She was not only as strong as a fortress, but as beautiful as her title of princess would suggest. In a moment, she would recognize him, send one of her small smiles his way, then invite the hedgehog to chat, about anything and everything.

He was wrong. Sally's eyes went wide, then darted around them, her standard recon of a battlefield. Sonic could only stare bewildered until she stopped, her eyes now narrow and gaze upon him. There was no warmth in the look she sent his way, no feeling but an icy resolve that made even Sonic the Hedgehog feel like faltering.

After the longest time regarding him, she spoke: "I knew Robotnik was sick, but this seems a bit much, even for him."

The hedgehog was thoroughly confused. He took a step closer. It proved the wrong move to make. Sally reacted by taking a step backward, leaning slightly away, as though fearful. As she did so, the moonlight revealed traces of tears beginning to form in her eyes. Sure that the same distance was between them, Sally unclasped a pouch at her hip. After a soft electronic tone, she spoke, her eyes never leaving the spot where the hedgehog stood.

"Nicole, please send out an alert. You know who to bring."

"Yes Sally." The princesses portable computer intoned.

If everything else was odd, one particular detail Sonic caught. Sally's personal computer spoke in a much smoother voice as she answered. Nicole tended to talk in a tone much more reminiscent of a computer, the sound of speech, but without the working experience to put it together. Just now, however, she was talking as if it was another mobian on the other side of a communicator. What was going on?

"What...?" Sonic was cut off as Nicole beeped.

"An alert has been sent Sally. Shall I summon further reinforcements?"

"No, I don't think that will be necessary. Keep monitoring, just in case."

"Yes Sally." The computer confirmed, falling silent again.

Before he could be cut off again, Sonic cut in. "Sal, what the heck is going on?"

She shivered just a bit at her nickname, but otherwise remained quiet. After a few seconds to compose herself, Sally answered, though Sonic found himself further confused.

"It doesn't feel right to hear you calling me that."

Her eyes were locked on him, as if he were an enemy.

"Sal, come on! It's me, Sonic!"

As the words left his mouth, Sally looked as though she were ready to lose her already strained but collected demeanor. With some effort, she calmed herself down, though a growl was still evident as she responded.

"Not possible. Sonic is in bed right now, right were I left him."

Something dark flashed through Sally's eyes. As things were headed, Sonic was sure he was going to be attacked by her. Nevermind that none of it made sense. He was also sure that he wouldn't be able to fight back. His best option was probably to make a run for it, then figure things out later.

"Don't even think of running."

Sally's voice held no hint of a threat. It was a simple statement. Without the hard edge to her voice, she might as well have been commenting on the weather. It almost made the blue hero flinch. This was Sally alright, nothing escaped her notice. She had probably seen him tense up to take off.

The two of them stood across from each other in silence for the longest of times. The entire scene seemed frozen, with only slow breaths to tell otherwise. The halo of moonlight remained just as still in the cloudless night, giving the intersection a cold hue.

Forever later, Sonic heard the sound of footsteps coming up from the left. From his angle at the edge of the light, he couldn't see who was coming. Sally kept her attention focused on him, not showing that she had even heard the approach.

"Sally." Spoke a voice from the darkness. It carried the tone and pitch of someone as old as Sally or Sonic himself, but retained a boyish affectation. The princess made no indication that she had heard. She kept her focus completely on the hedgehog. Whoever was speaking, Sonic realized, would have to step out to be able to see him, or more specifically, what Sally was looking at.

"Sal?" The voice came again, this time laced with a bit of worry. While she still didn't turn away, Sally's eyes seemed to soften a bit at this new mention of her nickname. Sonic had a fleeting feeling of jealousy. How could Sally respond so well to his name for her, coming from someone else?

Whoever it was, now probably concerned, stepped out from the corner. The figure that appeared moved quickly over to the princess. In the time it took for that to happen, Sonic's face flashed from confusion, to recognition, to near slack-jawed astonishment.

The young mobian who now stood beside Sally seemed to be of about average height, only a touch taller than the princess, not counting the ears. Satisfied that Sally was alright, the boy shifted his hands to one of the pouches on his belt as he turned towards Sonic. He regarded the hedgehog slowly, his reaction laced with a bit of confusion and a gleam of suspicion.

"I can see why you wanted keep this quiet Sal." He said, his eyes darting over to Sally as he spoke, then refocusing on Sonic.

"Who, or what, are you exactly?"

Though the question was directed at him, the hedgehog was too preoccupied to answer. He was much more focused on the teenage fox that was asking the question. Sonic had taken in the details in the first moment: golden-brown fur, white gloves much like his own, running shoes, and expressive blue eyes. It had only been a second later that everything which made sense had toppled over the edge. Two tails. This young mobian had two long fluffy tails that moved lazily behind him, both with powder white tips. An unbelievable possibility was falling into Sonic's mind, but the proof was standing right in front of him.

"Well?" Sonic was jolted from his reflection as the familiar creature pressed his question again. Words were escaping the hedgehog as he struggled to understand how _he_ was the one out of place here. The wit that had always come so naturally was failing to provide a phrase to break the tension.

"I'm... Sonic?" He stated hesitantly. It seemed more to try and convince himself, than to announce himself to them.

The princess tensed again, still looking ready to leap at him. She stopped only when the fox at her side put a hand softly on her shoulder. It took a moment, but Sally's shoulders drooped at the touch, what could be a wave of tension visibly dropping away from her. For the first time since their meeting, she turned her gaze from Sonic, meeting the eyes of her comforter.

"Thank you, Miles." She said in a low voice.

The touching scene was rather rudely interrupted by the sound of Sonic hitting the ground. The hedgehog had heard her words, confirming his suspicions and setting his mind going in a thousand different directions in an instant. In such a state, the only option for stopping was a total shutdown, which was exactly what had happened.

Miles and Sally glanced at the prone form of the strange hedgehog, then back at each other. A confused and nervous grin at the absurdity of the situation formed on the fox. Sally could only shrug, with a quiet smile of her own that stood in great contrast to the last several minutes. With no words expressed, both made their way over to the hedgehog who claimed to be Sonic, intent on seeing if he had suffered any harm.


End file.
